FIVE TOP REASONS TO BE A COUNCILLOR

1) Becoming a councillor gives you the opportunity to genuinely make a difference to the community you live in.

2) Being a councillor is a personally rewarding experience and gives you a deep sense of fulfilment - something you may not get from your day job.

3) Serving on a council stretches and challenges you to work simultaneously on two levels - dealing with individual needs and concerns and balancing these with providing strong leadership for the entire community.

4) As an ethnic minority women councillor you have the opportunity to ensure that councils reflect the diverse communities we live in. The more representative the council, the stronger, more relevant and more successful the policies will be for everyone.

5) As a councillor you have the important role to play of sending a visible message to others who identify with you that the public arena is open to them too.